Unexpected
by Monami-M
Summary: Post PG. Bartimaeus is dismissed. Nathaniel dies while successfully killing Nouda... supposedly. Fate makes Bartimaeus being summoned again on earth as Kitty as well and Bartimaeus realize that Nathaniel is not really dead, as they had assumed to be.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary:**** Post PG. Bartimaeus is dismissed. Nathaniel dies while successfully killing Nouda... supposedly. Fate makes Bartimaeus being summoned again on earth as Kitty as well and Bartimaeus realize that Nathaniel is not really dead, as they had assumed to be.**

**Disclaimer:**** Sadly, I do not own any of the characters, its all of Mr. Stroud's.**

**A/N:**** I am trying hard for parts of Bartimaeus - he is really difficult to write - (at times he may sound a bit ooc- but I think it is necessary) It takes place right after PG.**

* * *

"No, you are clearly not thinking about it!" I rambled in his (our) head. I was furiously shaking his head in denial.

"There is no other option, Bartimaeus."

Nathaniel had been way too injured to come out of this ordeal alive. I knew it, but refrained from thinking about it. Though he seem to know it better than me.

"There has to be some other way!"

We both knew there wasn't any. Still I had to try persuading him to not take _that_ path.

You have to listen to me, Bart! I am your master!"

With me dismissed, it was impossible for Nathaniel to control the staff's powers. I was needed. He had become too weak in strength physically as well as mentally to dominate the entities bound to the staff.

I ducked an attack form Nouda. Mumbling an incantation, Nathaniel threw a detonation from the Gladstone's staff.

Nathaniel's condition was worsening with each passing second.

"This has to end now. There can't be any better conditions for it." He whispered.

Nathaniel looked up, taking into consideration the huge network of glass and steel that constituted the crystal palace.

From what I could see and feel, Nathaniel was gravely injured. We were barely keeping up. He could pass out any moment...

Though I had no intention of leaving him alone, he was already muttering the incantations for my dismissal.

However hard I tried to stop his mind and thoughts from thinking, he proceeded.

Damn Nat! Stop it! _Nathaniel..._

I had to admit, I truly _was_ worried for him. Other than Ptolemy and Kitty, I had amassed enough respect for him. I had seen him evolve from the frail and weak Nathaniel to strong, heartless and blasé John Mandrake and back to the sensitive and kind himself.

Before I could complete my chain of thoughts, I was already getting linked to the Other Place and at a certain point the bridge joining me to the earth, collapsed. The staff broke. Glass splintered and the steel network holding the glass palace came down destroying _everything_ underneath.

* * *

_Where am I?_ Alive? _Dead?_

_Bartimaeus?_ Right, I dismissed him...

Nathaniel was confused. Where was he? Wasn't he supposed to die after the staff broke? He could conjure up nothing. Just darkness surrounded him. He could feel emptiness around him and _inside_ him.

Just then, a feeling of sudden heaviness filled him. His eyes opened. He felt a certain vagueness of the milieu surrounding him. _Where was he?_

His vision cleared and was unexpectedly blinded by a bright illumination. After a few moments, he realized that the light was his own aura - bright and iridescent - which had increased manifold.

Bewilderment was at its peak when he realized he was like a torch in an obscurity.

A short assessment of himself revealed his injuries to be non-existent. He still wore the same blood-stained clothes but the injuries and wounds were gone.

_This is what death must feel like!_ Nathaniel concluded as another luminous light enveloped him completely.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer : Sadly, I do not own any of the characters, its all of Mr. Stroud's.**

**I am very much surprised to see that Bartimaeus Trilogy hasn't got much fandom. Sad. According to me, it is one of the finest works by Mr. Stroud.  
**  
**Anyways, on with the chapter. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 2**

Just when the Other Place had started to enjoy in my presence, I felt the familiar tugging to my essence. It grew larger until I was linked back on the sluggish earth confined in a pentacle, ready to serve my new master. (Not really ready, just say, irked.)

Humans. How he hated them! Arrogant and greedy race, using my efficacious powers for their selfish needs. And what do I get? Nothing but pain!

My frivolous trail of thoughts were disturbed as I began to materialize. It was time for action!

I took up the form of gloomy dark, grey mist with at least a dozen pair of citrine eyes glowing brightly in them. Chilly breeze was an added effect. The temperature of the room dropped drastically. The candles were snuffed out as sharp breeze blew. My hideous form was enough for the chicken who dared summon me to shudder and jump out of the pentacle. All protective spells broken. And then, I'll be on my way home patting my belly. My job done.

"Who dared to summon the mightiest of the mightiest Dginni!" I thundered.

But as I had anticipated, nothing of that happened. No protective spells, no silver could be seen. My gaze instantaneously locked at the eyes that were staring at me, wide.

My jaws dropped. (Not literally. Remember, I am mist.)

Frail and thin Kitty stood, motionless, in her pentacle staring at me.

Right away, I changed my form to that of Ptolemy. Nathaniel would have been more comfortable but then, it would have developed a series of awkwardness and expressions overflowing with sorrow and melancholy.

"You are alive!" I heard her mutter. "He dismissed you. I knew it he would. He saved you... " she trailed off, tears forming in her eyes.

I was too shocked and startled. I could only say, "Kitty?"

Then she did the unimaginable.

She stepped outside her pentacle and almost scampered towards me, her arms spread wide. In a trice, she was in my arms, crying. I was too much taken aback by her sudden action.

"I need your help." she said in a muffled voice.

I hugged her back. 

* * *

A couple of hours had passed since I was summoned back in London. Surprisingly, my new master turned around to be none other than Kitty. I was whiling away my precious time by randomly flipping through channels on television.

_Humans are so... frail. _

I could see Kitty rambling through the small kitchen trying to cook something, or was it tea? I didn't care.

I was getting bored to death and there she was, preparing tea instead of expressing her thoughts and make an effort to apprehend them.

I sighed and got up.

She needed help. And I had all the time.

With lots of tugging and pulling (She is heavy!), I was successful in taking Kitty out. She needed some air to clean her mind.

* * *

This rays of light filtered through the gaps in the whole destructed place. Splintered glass was omnipresent with large iron rods and vended blocks lay in a heap.

Nathaniel opened his eyes to perceive a very known dilapidated site. Debris everywhere.

_**Crystal palace? **_

**_It is not possible. I am certainly dead._**

Well, he _certainly_ was breathing like a human and his heart was furiously pumping blood adding to the adrenaline building up in his body.

Breathing heavily, he frantically looked around for a way to get out. With a swift move, he moved aside a destroyed log of iron from his way, thus allowing more sunlight to mask his face. He had no idea what was happening and no interest in knowing the truth. Truths are bitter.

**_No way! I am alive! I have ten times more strength! Bart... Is he alive? Did he get dismissed? I have to check..._**

With a puzzled expression, he stepped outside unaware of the surprises waiting for him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here is the chapter. I know, it is even more shorter than the previous one. But I promise to publish next one quite soon. :)**

**Enjoy and do review! **

* * *

**Chapter 3**

* * *

Nathaniel ruffled his already dirty hair, as he stepped out on the cold concrete. Chilly air made him shiver. Looking around, he realized he was at the destroyed Crystal Palace. Yellow tapes could be seen cordoning off the place.

It was quite early in the morning, he supposed.

He looked at himself. Sure, his clothes were in a pitiable condition. His hand involuntarily reached his shoulder. Touch of his own pale smooth skin made him shudder. He could feel no pain. No injuries to be seen.

He felt like laughing and crying at the same time and he did. His voice reverberated in the chilly silence. _**What the hell has happened?! And How?**_

With all the wounds he had suffered, he was sure he was to die.

_Doubts._

Doubts about his own existence were pricking him. He had asking himself many times, many things in the few moments he had actualized he was alive and breathing. But in vain.

_**Who saved me?! **_

He was too shocked and surprised at the same time, he couldn't believe himself. _Alive and breathing..._

_**Was it Bartimaeus? He must have cast a shield around me...**_

But then, when he had woken up, nothing was around him. Only debris and broken structures.

_**I wasn't saved by humans either, since I should have been in hospital now.**_

Frustration was slowly rising. He could comprehend nothing!

_Questions._

Many doubts and innumerable questions were clouding his mind. Bartimaeus and Kitty were first.

_**Kitty..? **_

He was in certainly in London and many of the answers he needed could be resting with the only two persons he deeply cared about. He needed to find Kitty and summon Bart _NOW!_

London was still in deep slumber. He decided to summon Bartimaeus first.

Curiously looking around, he luckily found a small piece of chalk. He set to work immediately.

Few minutes later, two pentacles could be seen on the apparent space surrounding the palace.

Taking a deep breath, Nathaniel started muttering the incantations, his eyes closed.

He prayed in his subconscious, prayed for a positive outcome.

As the incantations finished , he expected the same old sarcastically humorous Bart scowling at him. Taunt him.

Sadly, it did not happen.

_Nothing_ materialized.

His eyes grew wide as realization dawned. A sudden wave of sadness gripped him. He realized how Bartimaeus had changed him through his talk, actions and friendship. He had become a close friend rather than a Dginni in service of his master. He remembered their last moments together, the way they had fought together.

A bond so strong was formed, nothing in the world could severe it.

_**NO! He cannot -**_

**_I had dismissed him! He can't just die!_**

_**I was to die! He was supposed to LIVE!**_

Nathaniel wanted to shout and scream, but not a sound came. A strong lump in his throat made him choke.

**_Why?_**

Tears flowed boundlessly. He did not stop them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer : Sadly, I do not own any of the characters, its all of Mr. Stroud's.**

**Like I promised, Here is the next chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

In a dimly lit room, a man sat on a rickety chair only his silhoutte visible.

"Magicians are **DEAD! DEAD! DEAD!"**

He sang.

And so was I supposed to...!

"But am I?" He asked to no one. The room was empty.

"**AM I!**" He screamed, wielding a silver knife.

A moment of silence passed, after which, the room filled with a low pitched dangerous laugh.

* * *

Taking a early morning stroll in an empty park was something I had cherished for long. Earthly things had their own magic. I glanced at the silent being walking with me.

Kitty sure had recovered a lot after her travel to the other place. She still looked older than her age and still some wrinkles could be seen around her eyes. Although the fact, that she survived the impossibly termed travel, was quite phenomenal. Her hair, prematurely turned grey were hanging loosely over her shoulders. ( God! She needs to do something about them! They look horrible!)

"Didn't you need someone to talk?"

Kitty gave me a melancholic look and continued walking.

You need someone to open up your heart to, you know." I repeated.

She stopped and turned. "Since when did you become so considerate with your words?" A slight smile played on her lips.

I snorted.

She sighed and sat on a nearby bench.

"The loss has been huge, Bart. It was all so sudden. Everything that has happened is devastating. I still can't believe he is gone, forever." She spoke, gazing distantly over the horizon.

She didn't cry. I knew how mentally strong she was. Nathaniel was gone. After that, I had understood one thing for sure, she longed for him. No amount of consolations would fill Nat's hollow part in her. I went and sat next to her.

"Yours, mine and Nathaniel's past was strangely unique. Our present can be assumed till a certain point, but our future is truly unexpected."

Not a moment had passed after I finished my sentence, I felt the tremors.

It was unusual. I could sense it. Strong vibrations could be felt even at the lowest planes. However hard I racked my brains to make any sense of such immense power that I was sure was in close proximity.

There couldn't be another entity summoned! I groaned. (I am in no mood to endanger my dear life AGAIN!)

Kitty needed to be warned and I did with a quick, short explanation.

"Power? But its impossible Bart! The government has been formed by Commoners!"

I rolled my eyes. I was really not expected such a dumb reply from Kitty.

"Kitty, that doesn't guarantee there won't be any summons."

Fortunately, Kitty could comprehend the worry and confusion masking my face and quickly shut her mouth.

I was conscious of the strange tingling to my essence that this huge power was causing. _It is weird,_ I thought.

In a trice, I was flying. I chose the farthest and highest branch of a nearby tree. Kitty watched me with awe as I swooped past her and in a second could see me perched on that very branch I had chosen.

Something was eerily wrong. Horribly wrong.

I cawed.

Whoever this was, sure had a nerve to walk the earth again right after a catastrophe had concluded.


End file.
